Winter Park Health Foundation Renews and Expands Supplemental Food Program for Hungry Kids

With the number of hungry families continuing to swell, the Winter Park Health Foundation approved a $46,560 grant to continue to provide supplemental food to students at nine elementary schools serving Winter Park, Maitland and Eatonville during the 2010-2011 school year.

The food packs are part of the Hi-Five Food Pack program offered by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. WPHF also supported the program during the past academic year. Between December 2009 and May 2010, WPHF support provided 11,099 food packs to children at eight local schools.

It is projected the new grant will result in 15,520 packs being distributed by the Food Bank.

The food packs, which include shelf-stable, ready to eat or easy to prepare food for children to eat on days they are not in school for breakfast and/or lunch, are delivered to schools on a monthly basis. This year, a licensed dietitian has worked with the Second Harvest staff to try to make the food pack contents as healthy as possible.  Typical ingredients include reduced fat white milk, apple juice, rice cereal, granola bar, apple sauce, beanie weenies, red beans and rice meal and beef stew.

Second Harvest Food Bank officials will also be working with the Winter Park Health Foundation and Orange County Public Schools to consider ways to reach and serve hungry older children in middle and high schools.